Wanting

How grateful I am for a God who knows my needs and prioritizes them above my wants. That's a hard mindset to get to. Especially when your wants are so desired. But I love that God says no to my wants because He knows my needs. He isn't a God who says no just because He wants to. He says no because He knows what's best for you. It can be disappointing when what we want doesn't happen, the no hurts. But when we look back and see what He had in store, we can see the good in His no. If I always got what I wanted, my life would be a mess. I'm not saying God never gives you what you want. Sometimes your wants line up with His plan, but most times, our wants line up with our selfish hearts. He knows what we need and He knows the destruction our wants could bring to our lives. His no is protection. It's a shield. It's love. If you recall in 1 Samuel 8, the Israelites request a king, bur God warns them that this is not what they want. He tries telling them that God is their King, yet they persist in their request. So, God gives them a king. Out of all the kings, more of them were disobedient to God, rather than obedient. Only about 8 of them were obedient out of 39. There were the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah, all kings of Israelites, and the kings of Israel had NO kings who followed God, and Judah had the eight. You see, sometimes God does give us what we want to show us the destruction He was trying to protect us from. Sometimes we just don't get what we want, but need to trust that He has a plan. We need to be ok when our wants aren't apart of His plans. Remind yourself that He has your needs in mind. What a gift it is to have a God who says no. Who knows when to say no. Don't take His no for granted. Listen. Don't persist in your want, but rest in your need. He knows your needs, let Him provide them. That doesn't mean it is bad to want something. We just need to make sure we know the difference between our wants and needs. We need to be ready to let our wants fade if they are not apart of His plan.